Festive Fivers Competition: The best Xmas pressies for under £5

MSE_Martin

This post is in relation to the Festive Fivers Article

To discuss or ask a question just click reply

The Winners!!

Thanks to all that entered the competition. It was a tough decision as there were so many great ideas. But here are the winners:

Best Adults Pressie

• Take an away day for a quid - jenny hullock

Runners Up

• A picture with your hero - Mojo-o-gogo
• A Restaurant Dinner Date for a Fiver - katchambers
• Discover Theatre-land's secrets KARENW
• Festive Fruit Vodka Shots - niknakb
• A personal football programme - 1998jjb
• A personalised house lamp - pieandapint

Best Kids Pressies

• A mug of sweets - choccyface2006

Runners Up

• Turn your kids into a hand drawn cartoon character - theroadshow
• Put them back together with a personalised jigsaw - FiFi Mad Mum
• Give them a wirring flashing mopod - ivy1910
• Kit out a developing country's classroom - horrible

See the full article: Festive Fivers

If you're one of the lucky winners please PM MSE Natasha with your name and address! (To PM simply go to MSE Natasha's profile and click on @Send a private message'.

Back to the original post

_________________________________________________________

What's the idea?

For the second time, I'm launching a contest for the best, clever, weird, practical, thoughtful, romantic presents you can buy or make providing it costs less than a fiver (before delivery).

What's the prize?

For the best overall suggestion I will give £100 plus there will a signed copy of either The Money Diet or Thrifty Ways for the runners up

What'll happen to all the suggestions

A full list of all the best suggestions will be categorised and published on the site in the middle of November.

Even if you don't think you've got a winning idea, submit it anyway, the more the merrier and you may save someone some money and give them a better time over the festive season.

Entries already in the last festive fivers contest won't be accepted

For obvious reasons, entries that have been in the previous competition will be winners, so have a quick read of the previous Festive Fivers article to see what's there, it may also give you some inspiration.

What's the deadline?

It's been so popular we've extended the competition to Thursday 15 November. The winners will be announced on the site and in the email within a week or two from then. You will then be contacted via this Chat Forums public message (PM) system, so please make sure you check to see if you've won.

How to enter?

Simply click reply and enter the details. You can enter as many times as you like, both in just one post or in many (and of course it is free).

Please put your answer in the following format

• Name of present?
• Do you make it or buy it?
• Total Cost?
• Details (the more the better)
• Where possible please add a link if it's an online offer

For example

• Name of present? Personal gift vouchers
• Make it or buy it? Make it
• Total Cost? under £1
• Details (the more the better)? Simply draw or print up - on nice paper, some personal gift vouchers such as 'I'll do the ironing', 'I'll tickle your feet', 'I'll make you dinner', 'I'll give you a back rub', or perhaps some more creative and naughtier suggestions of your own! Then give your partner the vouchers instead of a present. Giving vouchers is often more personal, rewarding and lasts longer than presents. You can give books of 5, 10, 100 or just a single one. You choose.

Good Luck!

Martin Lewis

M

• Personalised Packet of Seeds
• Buy it
• Total Cost? under £1 to about £3 per packet
• Great for all ages- many flowers have names in them, the obvious include rose, lily and daisy, but with a bit of searching you can come up with almost any name, e.g.: Alyssum Rosie O'day, limnanthes douglasii, virginia stock; and if you can't find the name you can always use a plant with a name like sweetheart or angel.This an enviromentally friendly gift, and it's good for kids to learn how plants grow; for adults it is a good stress reliever to get back to nature. Ideal for posting too.

http://www.suttons.co.uk
http://www.unwinsdirect.co.uk
http://fothergills.co.uk
http://www.thompson-morgan.com

bridget81

Name of present? place mats

Do you make it or buy it? make it

Total Cost? time with the kids drawing and colouring £4.40 to 4 pictures laminated @ staples (there will be ways of doing this cheaper - may already have some laminating facilities at work, a friend, or if your in a cheeky mood go into a big printer company and ask if they have an spare pouches and could possible laminated for you) crayons and paper are usually lying around the house when you have kids so these will cost pence to cover what you use.

Details (the more the better) you have fun with the kids, getting them to draw pictures, can personalise them if they want, such as grandma, grandad etc, one they have finished drawing, get them laminated and there you have some diy place mats!

KARENW_3

BUY IT
COST: £2 to £5 depending on the theatre
Details
Ideal gift for theatre lovers. Many theatres offer backstage tours, where you get to see the dressing rooms, control room, and all the areas normally only seen by the actors, as well as hearing the history of the theatre. I took my mum to the nottingham royal centre tour which was great and conducted by an actor in character.

Below just a few examples of theatres offering tours

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/Backstage Tours+18.twl national theatre £5 for adult family ticket 2 adults 2 children £13.

http://www.theambassadors.com/regent/education/backstage.html - stoke on trent Ambassadors £3.
http://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/backstage.shtml York theatre £2.
http://www.theambassadors.com/miltonkeynes/education/backstage.html The ambassadors MIlton Keynes £5
http://www.mayflower.org.uk/tours.asp Mayflower SOuthampton Adult £5
http://www.marlowetheatre.com/tours.asp Marlowe Theatre, Canturbury £2.50 adults

scottishlass

• Name of present? Memory Book
• Make it or buy it? Make it
• Total Cost? Cost of ScrapBook (£1 (Poundland)) + Cost of Photographs (various codes available)
• Details (the more the better)? Can be done to suit the recipient of the gift. You can add pictures (using the various offers for online photos) along with written memories of the time you met, or the drunken night you did such and such, you can also add maybe tickets of places you visited or journeys you've taken. If you've got children then maybe add some of their drawings, poems, stories, or handprints etc.
• Its a great way to trigger happy memories and can be made as personal as you like. Just let your imagination run wild.

erik99_2

name of present: Garlic peeler
buy it
cost: mine was 50 euro-cents, but a couple of pounds should cover it.
details: I found mine in Spain, but Google "garlic peeler" and you'll find a choice. It is a silicone-rubber tube 5 inches long and 1 1/4 inches circumference - mine is bright orange and looks faintly indecent but that could be part of the fun. You put a clove of garlic in, rub it between your hands, and behold :T your garlic is peeled as if by magic.

skintchick

Name of present? Retro sweet treat
Do you make it or buy it? Both
Total Cost? £3-5
Details (the more the better)
I'm assuming that at home you will have a spare jar or two- I use my old coffee jars because I drink Douwe Egberts whcih omes in a lovely glass jar with a glass stopper. If you buy this coffee it costs about £3 for a small jar, but you could use any jar.
Buy retro sweets like rhubarb custards, pear drops, etc from a sweet shop or online (www.aquarterof.co.uk for example but just Google 'sweet shop'), and layer them in the jar. Add a handmade label stuck on with sticky tape over the whole piece of paper et voila!A lovely retro gift for children and adults alike.

EDITED to add that the sweets initially are fairly expensive, but if you cost it out over a few gifts it is cheap.

sams247

Name of present? First Aid for Teenagers
Do you make it or buy it? Make it and buy it
Total Cost? As little as you can and as much as you want - I spent £4
Details (the more the better)
Buy a basic First Aid box (poundland or similar) and fill it with first aid for teenagers items.
Examples :
stamps
change for a call box
a taxi card with local taxi phone numbers on
£1 Boots voucher
a mini bar of chocolate
a simple hairband
a sachet of hair gel
a sachet of shampoo
an awful photo of yourself as a teenager (its an I get it where you are thing!)
a note giving them one free lift somewhere in the car, no moans guaranteed
a note guaranteeing you will listen to a 'confession' without getting mad
a note giving them a phone call to you anytime of night or day, for any reason
a note saying you will cook their favourite dish when they have a low day
a heart shaped note with the word 'Hug anytime' on it
a note saying you will say 'No' if any girlfriend or boyfriend in the future asks if you have any cute baby photo's of them
etc etc
This can be adapted to any age obviously....

Sallys_Savings

Name of Present: Family Tree Hamper
Make it or buy it: Make and buy
Total cost: up to £5
Traditional album in Tesco £3 and add photos using freebies
online...i.e. snapfish, truprint etc. and cds.
Details: Beg and borrow family photos to copy and put some in photo album and the remainder onto a cd.
Interview older members of the family and put onto dvd..ask lots of questions, first memory, family stories etc. etc.
You can add personalised dvd/cd centres using the computer.
Make up a booklet with websites that the person would find helpful to make up their family tree.
You could make a start into investigating their family if u wish..and print off your findings in a family tree from the computer.
Wrap a box with brown paper and print leaf prints all over and add a brown luggage label with A Start to your family tree best wishes etc to put everything in.
If you have tesco vouchers there is a book you can buy for £3.25 of vouchers on family trees. (if you wished to put this in the box instead of a photo album and just put all the photos onto cds).

Beate

• Name of present? Photo scrapbook
• Do you make it or buy it? Make it
• Total Cost? As we had the folder and the photo paper already, I couldn't say, but I am sure it was under a fiver.
• Details (the more the better) As my Mum lives in Germany and does not get to see me very often, I put together a collection of photos last year showing me on holidays, at home or with friends during the years I have been away from home, printed them on good A4 photo paper and arranged them nicely in a folder. She was quite chuffed.

Sallys_Savings

Name of present - Time Voucher Booklet
Make it or buy it - Make it
Total Cost - Printing costs from computer and your time
Details - Make up a voucher booklet..there are sites to help (will try and find the one I used). You can adapt this to whoever you are giving it to:

One evening babysitting
An afternoon helping you in the garden
A complete car valet
A day helping decorating
Good for a coffee and a chat
Washing up for a week
Cook you a meal
Have your kids over for the afternoon to give you peace
A day spent clearing your room
A pamper day - nails/massage etc
An evening tuition on the computer
Vaccum for a week
Help to clear out your shed
Go for a walk together
An evening in watching a movie
Breakfast in bed
Tea boy/girl for a week
One bike ride
Pick up after midnight voucher